Home Improvement

BrutulTM

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I scraped off the entire upstairs ceiling in my house. It was part of a full remodel though so the flooring and trim was torn out and the furniture was gone so that made the mess a lot easier to deal with.
 

Captain Suave

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If you're touching popcorn ceilings and your house was built pre-1980's you should check for asbestos. Mesothelioma is no fun.
 
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lurkingdirk

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If you're touching popcorn ceilings and your house was built pre-1980's you should check for asbestos. Mesothelioma is no fun.

Here in Indiana (and I think Federally?) asbestos has been downgraded as to how damaging it is provided it isn't in super fine dust form. Keeping the popcorn ceiling damp and wearing a decent respirator is absolutely sufficient to keep you healthy.
 

Captain Suave

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Keeping the popcorn ceiling damp and wearing a decent respirator is absolutely sufficient to keep you healthy.

Sure, and that's all remediation companies do anyway. Just saying it warrants being extra careful during the project and cleanup. I've done a bunch of work around cancer outcomes from industrial asbestos exposure and I wouldn't want any of it loose in my house in any form.
 

lurkingdirk

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Sure, and that's all remediation companies do anyway. Just saying it warrants being extra careful during the project and cleanup. I've done a bunch of work around cancer outcomes from industrial asbestos exposure and I wouldn't want any of it loose in my house in any form.

Absolutely agree. I think the clean up is even more important than while you are taking it down. Don't let it settle down into your couch and carpet, etc. Cover every square inch with plastic drop cloths that get thrown away, and wash your clothes/shower the second you are done.
 
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Lanx

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Absolutely agree. I think the clean up is even more important than while you are taking it down. Don't let it settle down into your couch and carpet, etc. Cover every square inch with plastic drop cloths that get thrown away, and wash your clothes/shower the second you are done.
even if there wasn't asbestos, you just feel like youve been in a crime scene when youre done
 
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Lanx

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what do ppl feel about a flush floor outlet? i would use this for the living room coffee table, so ppl can charge their phones, rather than goto the side table
1d27dcdcce2a8c2826f5d2392507d25b.png


i honestly don't feel it's needed, looks fun to do, and honestly it wouldn't mess up the living room b/c the coffee table would be where most ppl put it cuz of the stupid ass chimney + tv.
 

lurkingdirk

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what do ppl feel about a flush floor outlet? i would use this for the living room coffee table, so ppl can charge their phones, rather than goto the side table
1d27dcdcce2a8c2826f5d2392507d25b.png


i honestly don't feel it's needed, looks fun to do, and honestly it wouldn't mess up the living room b/c the coffee table would be where most ppl put it cuz of the stupid ass chimney + tv.

Hate them. They were in both my living rooms when I bought this house, couldn't take them out fast enough. It creates pre-determined seating patterns. Move your coffee table, and you have an outlet in the middle of the floor. In my opinion you're better off having outlets about every four feet in rooms like that. It virtually guarantees that you can sit in a couch/chair with a short cable charger coming over the arm of the couch/chair. More outlets, not outlets in places you might not want them.
 
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Control

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what do ppl feel about a flush floor outlet? i would use this for the living room coffee table, so ppl can charge their phones, rather than goto the side table
1d27dcdcce2a8c2826f5d2392507d25b.png


i honestly don't feel it's needed, looks fun to do, and honestly it wouldn't mess up the living room b/c the coffee table would be where most ppl put it cuz of the stupid ass chimney + tv.
It could be handy to have, but if you ever wanted a non-standard furniture arrangement, it would probably piss you off.
 
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Lanx

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It could be handy to have, but if you ever wanted a non-standard furniture arrangement, it would probably piss you off.
this is true, i looked at the previous house owners just now, and their staged pics has the couches in non standard
 

Control

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this is true, i looked at the previous house owners just now, and their staged pics has the couches in non standard
Just redo your flooring and have the design incorporate strips of modular tiles that you can change as needed, ala datacenter.
1689721324474.png

You know you want to :D
edit: fuck, now I want to
 
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Lanx

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Just redo your flooring and have the design incorporate strips of modular tiles that you can change as needed, ala datacenter.
View attachment 483045
You know you want to :D
i mean the floor is poorly done, like i know a few places have high spots and then some have "spongy" spots and then some have "hollow" spots
 
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Burns

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Yeah Ryobi is top quality stuff really. I've had the same edge trimmer for a decade and the battery hasn't even lost charge.

So I am looking to get spray foam insulation done. Has anyone done this? I have a need for both better insulation as TX is hot AF and my primary creature comfort of better sound reduction. We have this open plan house that seems to be the rage lately. While I like it it has the side effect of me being able to hear everything going on from my work desk. To the point of I can hear my wife and kids talking and not the work call I am on despite the computer being right in front of me and I have headphones on.

To aid in that spray foam insulation and I am also getting a solid wood door for the home office put in.
I've seen spray in foam for new houses, before the drywall goes up, but is it even possible to do in fully finished out houses without ripping the drywall down? It is incredibly messy and, if it can be done, installing it in an existing house sounds even more expensive than it usually is. Also, the spray in foam is usually done as a layer on the exterior walls and against the backside of the roof, so, even if your house had it done when built, it wouldn't change you being able to hear family in other rooms.

About a year ago, a neighbor was talking about putting spray foam in his barn and it costing something like $20,000+ (memory a bit fuzzy). That was with nothing against the walls and them just coming in and shooting it right onto the steel sheeting all the way up to the roof crest. Some of that cost was probably for them needing a scissor lift to reach the ceiling, but still.

There are probably cheaper ways to reduce sound getting into your office. I did some research on sound proofing a few years ago, but didn't bookmark anything I found. Mass load vinyl sandwiched between two sheets of drywall seems to be the best bet for cost/benefit. Youtube watch history shows these two videos on sound proofing that I remember being good:

Short video of an install on just 1 dividing wall for a business; doing a google/bing search, for each step shown, should get you details for what all is involved (Green Glue is now silly expensive, and may not be worth it for a 2-3 dB reduction) :​
I had an older video from this guy in my history, where he uses green glue, when it was cheaper, here is a new one from him that shows different stuff:​
 
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BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Just redo your flooring and have the design incorporate strips of modular tiles that you can change as needed, ala datacenter.
View attachment 483045
You know you want to :D
edit: fuck, now I want to
This is why I won't replace my drop tile ceiling in the basement with sheet rock. Sure it would look nicer, but it's just too handy to be able to pop out whatever tile I want and have access to the electrical and plumbing for most of the house. I would love this floor in my basement actually. Not only could I have an outlet or a wired internet connection anywhere I wanted one, but it would keep my furniture up in the air in case it floods as every basement eventually does.
 
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BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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is it even possible to do in fully finished out houses without ripping the drywall down?
You have to cut a hole in the drywall at the top and bottom of every bay and then patch all the holes and repaint once you're done.
 
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Control

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I've seen spray in foam for new houses, before the drywall goes up, but is it even possible to do in fully finished out houses without ripping the drywall down? It is incredibly messy and, if it can be done, installing it in an existing house sounds even more expensive than it usually is. Also, the spray in foam is usually done as a layer on the exterior walls and against the backside of the roof, so, even if your house had it done when built, it wouldn't change you being able to hear family in other rooms.

About a year ago, a neighbor was talking about putting spray foam in his barn and it costing something like $20,000+ (memory a bit fuzzy). That was with nothing against the walls and them just coming in and shooting it right onto the steel sheeting all the way up to the roof crest. Some of that cost was probably for them needing a scissor lift to reach the ceiling, but still.

There are probably cheaper ways to reduce sound getting into your office. I did some research on sound proofing a few years ago, but didn't bookmark anything I found. Mass load vinyl sandwiched between two sheets of drywall seems to be the best bet for cost/benefit. Youtube watch history shows these two videos on sound proofing that I remember being good:

Short video of an install on just 1 dividing wall for a business; doing a google/bing search, for each step shown, should get you details for what all is involved (Green Glue is now silly expensive, and may not be worth it for a 2-3 dB reduction) :​
I had an older video from this guy in my history, where he uses green glue, when it was cheaper, here is a new one from him that shows different stuff:​
I went through a bunch of these a while back, and it looked like the best result for the trouble was a double-wall, where you put up new studs offset by an inch or so, so that your inner wall isn't directly connected to your outer wall (same purpose as the resilient clips, decoupling the inner surface from the outer surface as much as possible) with insulation and a double-layer of 3/4 sheetrock (on both sides if possible). Green stuff between the layers, if you believe their marketing. Then something similar for the floor/ceiling if they're accessible. I was going to give it a try but decided to punt on the big renos until the next house.

However, if you're mostly trying to deaden interior noise, I bet you'd get half of the overall benefit or more by installing a good exterior door and doorframe on the room.
 
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ToeMissile

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I have two water related issues ATM.


1. The hot water in the kitchen sink is slow as fuck, hot water elsewhere is fine. I'm feeling like it's an issue w/ the value under the sink :
- My washing machine had been disconnected and when I turned off the valve, water was still coming out of the line in for the dishwasher. I had to turn off hot to the whole house @ the water heater. I'm assuming the valve is busted internally somehow where turning the handle isn't rotating the valve and needs to be replaced.

2. The shower head (stationary/hand held combo) leaks out of both heads at up to 2 drips per sec from each head. The output switch/value (circled in red) broke somehow internally, it no longer has an audible or tactile 'click' when switching between the outputs. So it's the fixture and/or the main/rough-in valve.

We do have a whole home water softener but for the first 3-4 months this year I wasn't great about keeping the salt water tank stocked.

Thoughts/advice/etc?

For visual, this is the model.

1689728325659.png
 

Control

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I have two water related issues ATM.


1. The hot water in the kitchen sink is slow as fuck, hot water elsewhere is fine. I'm feeling like it's an issue w/ the value under the sink :
- My washing machine had been disconnected and when I turned off the valve, water was still coming out of the line in for the dishwasher. I had to turn off hot to the whole house @ the water heater. I'm assuming the valve is busted internally somehow where turning the handle isn't rotating the valve and needs to be replaced.

2. The shower head (stationary/hand held combo) leaks out of both heads at up to 2 drips per sec from each head. The output switch/value (circled in red) broke somehow internally, it no longer has an audible or tactile 'click' when switching between the outputs. So it's the fixture and/or the main/rough-in valve.

We do have a whole home water softener but for the first 3-4 months this year I wasn't great about keeping the salt water tank stocked.

Thoughts/advice/etc?

For visual, this is the model.

View attachment 483064
I've had a water shutoff valve go bad before, so it's definitely something that happens. I wouldn't think that 4 months without a softener would cause enough buildup to break it (or your shower head), but unless you installed them both, they may have already had tons of buildup from before.
 

Lanx

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I have two water related issues ATM.


1. The hot water in the kitchen sink is slow as fuck, hot water elsewhere is fine. I'm feeling like it's an issue w/ the value under the sink :
- My washing machine had been disconnected and when I turned off the valve, water was still coming out of the line in for the dishwasher. I had to turn off hot to the whole house @ the water heater. I'm assuming the valve is busted internally somehow where turning the handle isn't rotating the valve and needs to be replaced.

2. The shower head (stationary/hand held combo) leaks out of both heads at up to 2 drips per sec from each head. The output switch/value (circled in red) broke somehow internally, it no longer has an audible or tactile 'click' when switching between the outputs. So it's the fixture and/or the main/rough-in valve.

We do have a whole home water softener but for the first 3-4 months this year I wasn't great about keeping the salt water tank stocked.

Thoughts/advice/etc?

For visual, this is the model.

View attachment 483064
just replace that shower head, youre never gonna fix it, inside is all plastic anyway